Improving Your Memory Through Exercise? How Could You Forget!

Even very light exercise for only ten minutes can help improve memory function according to new research, so how can we reap the benefits?

Improving Your Memory Through Exercise? How Could You Forget!

Even very light exercise for only ten minutes can help improve memory function according to new research, so how can we reap the benefits?

We’re huge advocates of the importance of physical activity here at PartyLab Industries, so when even more evidence of the benefits of exercise appears, you better believe we’re gonna’ talk about it.

Exciting research out of the University of California has given evidence that even extremely light workouts, think yoga or tai-chi, can improve memory formation and storage.

So How Exactly Can Exercise Improve Memory?

The simple answer, as always, is that “it’s complicated.” The researchers used MRIs to examine the brains of subjects shortly after brief 10 minute exercise sessions. What they found was improved connectivity between the hippocampal dentate gyrus and cortical areas linked to memory processing. Not following? Don’t worry, we’re not exactly sure what we wrote there either. Let’s hear from the co-leader of the project, Michael Yassa, instead.

“The hippocampus is critical for the creation of new memories; it’s one of the first regions of the brain to deteriorate as we get older,” Yassa explains. “Improving the function of the hippocampus holds much promise for improving memory in everyday settings.”

What Does This Discovery Mean For The World?

The research team is still in the middle of intense work to discover more about this phenomenon, but right now there could be huge implications for preventing diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Research is continuing, with a specific look to how these intermittent bouts of exercise can affect older adults who are typically at a much higher risk for memory impairment.

There is tremendous value to understanding the exercise prescription that best works in the elderly so that we can make recommendations for staving off cognitive decline

Michael Yassa

To read the original journal article, you can click here.

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